Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
Selected Reading List for your Classroom
This list compiled by Chicago Metro History Education Center’s own Rebecca Redinger is a great resource
for teachers who wish to study the Gilded Age and Progressive Era through both fiction and non-fiction.
We encourage your students to critically engage with the texts. Please enjoy this resource and let us know
how you used it. Tweet us @RethinkingGAPE or email [email protected].
Also remember to apply for our 2016 summer institute!
More details can be found at gildedandprogressive.org.
Major Themes covered include:
 Immigration
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 Suffrage

 Women’s Activism

Labor
Racial identity
Border relations


Capitalism
City Planning
Categories :
 British Authors during Gilded Age and Progressive Era
 Italian Authors during Gilded Age and Progressive Era
 Canadian Authors during Gilded Age and Progressive Era
 American Authors during Gilded Age and Progressive Era
 Middle Grade American Fiction about Time Period (1877-1920)
 Elementary American Biographical Fiction (Picture Books) about Time
Period (1877-1920)
 Middle Grade American Non-Fiction about Time Period (1877-1920)
BRITISH AUTHORS DURING GILDED AGE AND PROGRESSIVE ERA
Beatrix Potter (1866-1943)
 Peter Rabbit (1902)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19321.The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit
J.M. Barrie (1860-1937)
 Peter Pan (1904)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/700817.Peter_Pan
Edith Nesbit (1858-1924)
 The Railway Children (1906)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8483963-the-railway-children
ITALIAN AUTHORS DURING GILDED AGE AND PROGRESSIVE ERA
Carlo Collodi,(1826-1890)
 Adventures of Pinocchio (1883)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/180617.Pinocchio
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
CANADIAN AUTHORS DURING GILDED AGE AND PROGRESSIVE ERA
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)
 Anne of Green Gables (1908)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8127.Anne_of_Green_Gables
AMERICAN AUTHORS DURING GILDED AGE AND PROGRESSIVE ERA
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)
 Chicago Poems (1916)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/596810.Chicago_Poems
Samuel Langhorne Clemens “Mark Twain” (1835-1910)
 Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24583.The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer
 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2956.The_Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn
 The Prince and the Pauper (1882)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62446.The_Prince_and_the_Pauper
 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/679364.A_Connecticut_Yankee_in_King_Arthur_s_Court
Jack London
 Call of the Wild (1903)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1852.The_Call_of_the_Wild
 To Build a Fire (1908)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/194808.To_Build_a_Fire
 White Fang (1906)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43035.White_Fang
Margery Williams Bianco (1881-1944) – moved to America in 1890
 Velveteen Rabbit (1922)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/144974.The_Velveteen_Rabbit
Margaret Sidney (real name: Harriett Mulford Stone Lothrop)(1844-1924)
 The Five Little Peppers (1880s)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7911.Five_Little_Peppers_and_How_They_Grew
Eleanor H. Porter (1868-1920)
 Pollyanna (1913)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1000751.Pollyanna
Jean Webster (1876-1916)
 Daddy-Long-Legs (1912)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1499952.Daddy_Long_Legs
Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923)
 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903)
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/844659.Rebecca_of_Sunnybrook_Farm
Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924)
 A Girl of the Limberlost
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1250920.A_Girl_of_the_Limberlost
L. Frank Baum (1856-1919)
 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236093.The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz
W.E.B. duBois
 The Brownies’ Book (children’s magazine, 1920s, African American racial identity, W.E.B.
duBois)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19867844-the-best-of-the-brownies-book
MIDDLE GRADE AMERICAN FICTION ABOUT TIME PERIOD 1877-1920
Sydney Taylor
 All-of-a-kind Family (Turn of the century, New York, Immigration, labor, Jewish-American culture)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7926.All_of_a_Kind_Family
Laura Ingalls Wilder
 The Long Winter
 Little Town on the Prairie
 These Happy Golden Years
(Late 1870s and 1880s, Midwest, themes of capitalism and border relations)
Donna Jo Napoli
 The King of Mulberry Street (New York, 1892, immigration, labor, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1012335.The_King_of_Mulberry_Street
Betty Smith
 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (New York, turn of the century)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14891.A_Tree_Grows_in_Brooklyn
Mary Jane Auch
 Ashes of Roses (New York, Immigration, Racial identity, labor – Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/577184.Ashes_of_Roses
Katherine Paterson
 Lyddie (Lowell, MA cloth mills, labor)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/258905.Lyddie
 Bread and Roses, Too (Lawrence, Massachusetts mill workers' strike in 1912)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2847.Bread_and_Roses_Too
Karen Cushman
 Rodzina (1881, orphans, Chicago, immigration, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54365.Rodzina
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
Karen Schwabach
 The Hope Chest (New York, suffrage, women’s activism, racial identity, includes
nonfiction back matter with period photographs, historical notes about the suffrage movement, and a Voting
in America timeline)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2457685.The_Hope_Chest
Patricia Reilly Giff
 The House of Tailors (Brooklyn, 1870s, labor, racial identity, immigration)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288145.A_House_of_Tailors
Richard Peck
 Here Lies the Librarian (1914, Indiana, suffrage, automobile)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39973.Here_Lies_the_Librarian
Laurence Yep
 The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 (San Francisco, 1906, themes
of racial identity and place, city planning)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136233.The_Earth_Dragon_Awakes
Harriette Gillem Robinet
 Missing from Haymarket Square (Chicago 1886, labor, activism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1589963.Missing_from_Haymarket_Square
Karen Hesse
 Letters from Rifka (1919, Ukraine to Ellis Island, immigration, racial identity and place)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5976585-letters-from-rifka
 Brooklyn Bridge (1903, Brooklyn, immigration, capitalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3041813-brooklyn-bridge
Barbara Wright
 Crow (1898, North Carolina, racial identity, politics)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11346278-crow
Jacqueline Kelly
 The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (1899, Texas, theory of evolution)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6202556-the-evolution-of-calpurnia-tate
Gennifer Choldenko
 Chasing Secrets (San Francisco, 1900, medical, racial identity and place)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23615684-chasing-secrets
My Name is America Series (boys):
Susan Campbell Bartoletti
 The Journal of Finn Reardon, a Newsie (1899, New York, child labor)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/996343.The_Journal_of_Finn_Reardon_A_Newsie
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
William Durbin
 The Journal of Otto Peltonen, a Finnish Immigrant (1900s, Minnesota, mining, labor, racial
identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1604420.The_Journal_Of_Otto_Peltonen_A_Finnish_Immigrant
 Journal of Sean Sullivan, A Transcontinental Railroad Worker (turn of the Century, travel, labor,
capitalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1083456.Journal_Of_Sean_Sullivan_A_Transcontinental_Railroad
_Worker
Dear America Series (girls):
Deborah Hopkinson
 The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City 1909 (New York, 1900s,
immigration, labor, racial identity and place)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/780888.Hear_My_Sorrow
Kathryn Lasky
 Dreams In The Golden Country: the Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New
York City, 1903 (New York, 1900s, immigration, racial identity and place)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/362929.Dreams_In_The_Golden_Country
 A Time for Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen (1917, Washington D.C., women’s
activism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/875642.A_Time_For_Courage
Ellen Emerson White
 Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic, 1912 (1900s,
capitalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/247982.Voyage_on_the_Great_Titanic
Ann Rinaldi
 My Heart is on the Ground: the Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School,
Pennsylvania, 1880 (late 1800s, Pennsylvania, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/143169.My_Heart_is_on_the_Ground
Susan Campbell Bartoletti
 A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896 (late 1800s,
immigration, racial identity, industry)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/570540.A_Coal_Miner_s_Bride
Patricia C. McKissack
 Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois,
1919 (Chicago, 1919, migration, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/570525.Color_Me_Dark
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
ELEMENTARY AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL FICTION (PICTURE BOOKS) ABOUT
TIME PERIOD 1877-1920
Ernest L. Thayer
 Casey at the Bat (1888, baseball)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/313784.Casey_at_the_Bat
Elisa Bartone and Ted Lewin (illustrator)
 Peppe the Lamplighter (Turn of the century, New York, immigrants, labor)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1918706.Peppe_the_Lamplighter
Barb Rosenstock and Mordicai Gerstein (Illustrator)
 The Camping Trip That Changed America (1903, Yosemite, Teddy Roosevelt)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11737316-the-camping-trip-that-changed-america
Doreen Rappaport and C.F. Payne (Illustrator)
 To Dare Might Things: The Life of Theodore Roosevelt
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17428635-to-dare-mighty-things
Jan Pinborough and Debby Atwell (Illustrations)
 Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children (Turn
of the century, New York, women’s and children’s activism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15814402-miss-moore-thought-otherwise
Michelle Markel and Melissa Sweet (Illustrations)
 Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 (New York, 1909, women’s activism,
labor, immigration)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15818081-brave-girl
Jabari Asim and Bryan Collier (illustrator)
 Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington (Turn of the Century, education, racial
identity and place)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14780659-fifty-cents-and-a-dream
Natalie S. Bober and Rebecca Gibbon (Illustrations)
 Papa Is a Poet: A Story About Robert Frost (Turn of the century, poetry, New Hampshire)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17343395-papa-is-a-poet
Philip Dray and Stephen Alcorn (Illustrator)
 Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells: The Daring Life of a Crusading Journalist (turn of the Century,
racial identity, women’s activism, journalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2301025.Yours_for_Justice_Ida_B_Wells
Kathryn Gibbs Davis and Gilbert Ford (Illustrations)
 Mr. Ferris and His Wheel (1893, World’s Fair, industry, capitalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20256564-mr-ferris-and-his-wheel
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
Tanya Lee Stone and Kathryn Brown (Illustrations)
 The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams (turn of the Century, Chicago, activism,
labor, immigrants)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22718660-the-house-that-jane-built
Jonah Winter and Marjorie Priceman (Illustrator)
 Jazz Age Josephine (1920s, Jazz, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12663804-jazz-age-josephine
Alice Walker and Catherine Deeter (Illustrator)
 Langston Hughes: American Poet (1900s, poetry, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/741691.Langston_Hughes
Doreen Rappaport and C.F. Payne (Illustrator)
 To Dare Might Things: The Life of Theodore Roosevelt (turn of the Century, Roosevelt)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17428635-to-dare-mighty-things
Jennifer Fisher Bryant and Melissa Sweet (Illustrator)
 A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin (late 1800s, art, politics, segregation, racial
identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13642600-a-splash-of-red
Louise Borden, Mary Kay Kroeger, and Teresa Flavin (Illustrator)
 Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman (1900s, women’s activism, WWI, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/693603.Fly_High
Jacqueline Woodson and James E. Ransome (Illustrator)
 This is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration (turn of the Century, migration, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16101044-this-is-the-rope
Eloise Greenfield and Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Illustrator)
 The Great Migration: Journey to the North (turn of the Century, migration, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8822290-the-great-migration
MIDDLE GRADE AMERICAN NON-FICTION ABOUT TIME PERIOD 1877-1920
Susan Campbell Bartoletti
 Kids of Strike (early 1900s, Pennsylvania coal mines, child labor, activism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187755.Kids_On_Strike_
 Growing up in Coal Country (turn of the Century, child labor, immigrants)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/352673.Growing_Up_in_Coal_Country
Russell Freedman and Lewis Hine
 Kids at Work (turn of the Century, child labor, activism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1022132.Kids_at_Work
Russell Freedman
 Immigrant Kids (turn of the Century, immigration, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1908032.Immigrant_Kids
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
Albert Marrin
 Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and its Legacy
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9414509-flesh-blood-so-cheap
Deborah Hopkinson
 Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York, 1880-1924 (turn of the Century, New
York, immigrants, labor, culture)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25353.Shutting_Out_the_Sky
Walter Dean Myers and Bonnie Christensen (Illustrator)
 Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told (turn of the Century, racial identity, women’s activism,
journalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2885683-ida-b-wells
Elizabeth Raum
 Orphan Trains: An Interactive History Adventure
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10876909-orphan-trains
Andrea Warren
 We Rode the Orphan Trains
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202770.We_Rode_the_Orphan_Trains
 Orphan Train Rider: One Boy’s True Story
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3054562-orphan-train-rider
Jim Murphy
 Across America on an Emigrant Train (1879, immigration, traveling west)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/856584.Across_America_on_an_Emigrant_Train
Tonya Bolden
 Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America (turn of the Century, racial identity)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17197648-searching-for-sarah-rector
 George Washington Carver (turn of the Century, agriculture, racial identity, capitalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2643821-george-washington-carver
Kathryn Lasky and Nneka Bennett (illustrator)
 Vision of Beauty: The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker [Madame C.J. Walker]
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/741007.Vision_of_Beauty
Images of America Series:
Joseph M. Di Cola and David Stone
 Chicago's 1893 World's Fair (1893, Chicago, capitalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15862032-chicago-s-1893-world-s-fair
Frank Beberdick and Historic Pullman Foundation
 Chicago's Historic Pullman District (turn of the Century, labor, capitalism)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288677.Chicago_s_Historic_Pullman_District
Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms:
Race, Capitalism, Democracy, 1877-1920
Peggy Glowacki
 Hull-House (turn of the Century, Chicago, activism, labor, immigrants)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1166658.Hull_House
Myiti Sengstacke
 Chicago Defender
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13756243-chicago-defender
Joseph M. DiCola and David Stone (Illustrator)
 Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair (1893, Chicago, capitalism, city planning)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15862032-chicago-s-1893-world-s-fair